Man shot and killed outside The Hop identified

An altercation between two men in the parking lot of The Hop during an after concert party led to one of them being killed late Sunday night.

The Spokane County Medical Examiner identified the victim as Julian Morrison, 26, Monday afternoon and confirmed he died from gunshot wounds.

The shooting happened in the parking lot of The Hop, located at 706 North Monroe.

Police received a call about the shooting and officers were on the scene within two minutes. About 50 people had gathered for an after concert party when two men squared off in the parking lot that ended with Morrison's killing.

"Upon arrival we found one deceased male in the parking lot," Lieutenant Dean Sprague with the Spokane Police Department said early Monday morning. "For the past half hour we've been calling in our resources."

Figuring the gunman or even witnesses may have been forced to run away on foot arriving patrol officers started running plates on all nearby cars.

"Standard practice would be to get registrations for all vehicles in the area, any vehicles leaving the area. We had patrol officers there very, very quickly, so it's possible that the suspect's vehicle remained there of was one of the vehicles captured as it was leaving," Lieutenant Mark Griffiths with Spokane Police Major Crimes said.

One of the cars left behind is a white Pontiac that witnesses say belonged to Morrison. Multiple bullet casings indicate he was possibly gunned down at point blank range.

"We don't know what the motivation was behind the shooting. We're trying to determine what the interaction was and what the altercation was about," Griffiths said.

In addition to Spokane Major Crimes detectives, the gang unit is assisting with the investigation as police believe the shooting may be gang related.

Morrison, the victim. had two felony convictions and had been arrested in the past for forgery, assault, car theft, possession of stolen property and robbery.

Police say the suspect is still at large. They have been unable to come up with a description of a suspect from talking to witnesses so far.

Detectives ask that if someone has information, they call Crime Check at 456-2233.